Renegades Will Prosper in This New Economy

It is certainly a New Economy with challenges for all. What is interesting though is that not all suffering as bad as the media and the government would like you to believe. In fact some entrepreneurs and businesses are using these challenging times to reposition themselves and in some cases actually grow. As I look over the business landscape from rep to retailer to small business owner, I find three distinct categories people fall into.
The first category are “losers “. I don’t mean to offend, but these people bitch and moan about anything and everything. These folks look at the economy, listened to the “stupidity” out of Washington, and watch the nightly news only to become so darn depressed that they become ostriches and sink their heads in the sand waiting for this to all blow over. They feel like nothing they do will make a difference so they do as little as possible. They commiserate with other losers in the lounge about how bad things are and complain to anyone who will listen. Their business stinks and it’s getting worse. I’ve got news from them, it isn’t going to blow over.
The next batch of folks which the majority probably fall into are the “status quo” believers. They know what they were doing worked at one time and so they will keep on doing it with limited results. They don’t throw in the towel like the first group, and they generally don’t let the news rule their lives. They keep getting up every day trying to figure out how to sell something. Some days are better than others.
When things turn around, they will be doing the same thing they did when the economy crashed. That’s OK if the economy comes back the same way as before the crash. I believe that the business climate will come back differently because of loss of jobs in our industry, loss of factories, and loss of retailers. So at some point these folks will have to adapt or they will be disappointed in their results because they probably will never get back to where they were before the crash.
The final group of folks are the Renegades. They are never satisfied with the current environment, and continually try to improve their circumstances and those around them. They are not afraid of trying new things, and if it doesn’t work, they will try something different. Some of the biggest companies in our industry were started or run by Renegades, and we are a better industry for them.
As reps, we need to be Renegades. We need to be out looking for new things to bring back to our retailers in hopes of helping them service their customers more. I continually network outside of the industry to see what other sharp people are doing in their businesses to drive customers. This gives me a different perspective which then allows me to do a better job offering solutions to my retailers.
So my question for you today is are you satisfied with your business and the direction it is going? If not, take some time to look for renegades inside and outside of our industry for inspiration on how you can help your customers find solutions to their challenges. When you do that, your business will survive, maybe even thrive. You will be well positioned for when things turn around in the new economy. Be sure and let me know your comments on this.
On a different note, the rep survey ends Friday July 31 at midnight. We have had great response from reps and it will help give some direction on what people want to discuss. If you haven’t yet filled this out, please go to www.furniturerep.info. We will announce the results in mid August. Thank you